IBM AI Toolset Focuses on 9 Industries

Recently, IBM introduced new AI solutions and services pre-trained for nine industries and professions including agriculture, customer service, human resources, supply chain, manufacturing, building management, automotive, marketing, and advertising. In each area the amount of data makes it more difficult for managers to keep up due to volume, velocity, and complexity of the data. The solutions generally utilize IBM’s Watson Data Platform.

For example, supply chain companies now should incorporate weather data, traffic reports, and even regulatory reports to provide a fuller picture of global supply issues. Similarly, industrial organizations are seeking to reduce product inspection resource requirements significantly through the use of visual and acoustic inspection capabilities, notes IBM.

Recent IBM research from its Institute for Business Value revealed that 82% of businesses are now considering AI deployments. Why? David Kenny, Senior Vice President, IBM Cognitive Solutions, explains: “As data flows continue to increase, people are overwhelmed by the amount of information [forcing them] to act on it every day, but luckily the information explosion coincides with another key technological advance; artificial intelligence (AI). In the 9 industries targeted by IBM, the company provides the industry-specific algorithms and system training required for making AI effective in each segment.

Let’s look at a selection of these industry segments starting with Customer Service where 77% of top performing organizations report seeing customer satisfaction as a key value driver for AI by giving customer service agents increased ability to respond quickly to questions and complex inquiries. It was first piloted at Deluxe Corporation, which saw improved response times and increased client satisfaction.

Human resources also could benefit from a ready-made AI solution. The average hiring manager flips through hundreds of applicants daily, notes IBM, spending approximately 6 seconds on each resume. This isn’t nearly enough time to make well-considered decisions. The new AI tool for HR analyzes the background of current top performing employees from diverse backgrounds and uses that data to help flag promising applicants.

In the area of industrial equipment, AI can be used to reduce product inspection resource requirements significantly by using AI-driven visual and acoustic inspection capabilities. At a time of intense global competition, manufacturers face a variety of issues that impact productivity including workforce attrition, skills-gaps, and rising raw material costs—all exacerbated by downstream defects and equipment downtime. By combining the Internet of Thing (IoT) and AI, IBM contends, manufacturers can stabilize production costs by pinpointing and predicting areas of loss; such as energy waste, equipment failures, and product quality issues.

In agriculture, farmers can use AI to gather data from multiple sources—weather, IoT-enabled tractors and irrigators, satellite imagery, and more—and see a single, overarching, predictive view of data as it relates to a farm. For the individual grower, IBM notes, this means support for making more informed decisions that help improve yield. Water, an increasingly scarce resource in large swaths of the world, including parts of the U.S., which have been experienced persistent droughts. Just remember the recent wildfires.

Subway hopes AI can increase in restaurant visits by leveraging the connection between weather and quick service (QSR) foot traffic to drive awareness of its $4.99 Foot long promotion via The Weather Channel mobile app. To build awareness and ultimately drive in-store visits to its restaurants Subway reported experiencing a 31% lift in store traffic and a 53% reduction in campaign waste due to AI.

DancingDinosaur had no opportunity to verify any results reported above. So always be skeptical of such results until they are verified to you.


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